Search

Terracotta figures were produced in large numbers in Egypt during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. The introduction of integral moulding, a real technical revolution, made it possible to mass-produce them to meet new needs both in Alexandria and in the hinterland (or chôra). In this paper we will focus on the technical processes used to mass-produce the figurines, particularly remoulding. We will also examine the possible loss of craftsmanship over time and the potential impact this may have had on the consumption of these artefacts.

The amount of votive terracottas yielded by ritual contexts in Magna Graecia have been increased by seized archaeological objects which have yet lost part of their informative power. The fragmentary statuettes presented here have been seized in 1979 and mainly consist in female heads dated from Archaism to Hellenistic Age. Stylistic an technical studies carried out in 2021–2022 revealed that our fragments strongly resemble the terracottas from Taranto and the types were comparable with those uncovered in some ritual contexts of the city. Our heads may have been removed from one or more of the votive deposits uncovered at Spring’s Sanctuary of Saturo currently interpreted as evidence of an abandonment rite.

This brief report is an introduction to the study of the terracotta figurines from the sanctuary of Artemis Laphria in Kalydon, Aitolia, that is being carried out by me. Although quantifications cannot be made at the current stage of research, some types are found in greater numbers than others, as in the standing kore type, protomai, and figurines of animals and fruit. A few examples of these types are presented here.

This article presents a publication project concerning the terracottas in the Yale Babylonian Collection that began in 2018, suspended by the pandemic, and resumed in 2022. After defining the difficulties and the methodology, it presents an overview of the study and concludes by describing the publication plan.

This contribution represents a brief description of my doctoral dissertation1 entitled “Il deposito votivo di Piazza San Francesco a Catania: produzione, contesto e diffusione. Le offerenti in terracotta nella Sicilia orientale dall’età protoclassica all’età tardo-classica” 2that was defended successfully on May 4, 2021, at the University of Catania.

On Wednesday, June 1, 2022, a rare collection of ancient objects, including terracottas, photographic plates, and prints from the collection of archaeologist Paul Gaudin were put up for sale by the auction house Rouillac in the Château d'Artigny, Montbazon, France.

The following is a compilation of publications on coroplastic topics for 2019-2020. As this is taken from Dyabola, all reference Greek or Roman terracottas. Bibliography on coroplastic topics that focus on other areas of the ancient world are very much appreciated and can be sent to uhlenbrj@hawkmail.newpaltz.edu.

The so-called “Salines sanctuary” was established close to old Kition, modern Larnaka, on the south coast of Cyprus. This place of worship, of which no traces have survived, was located outside the city walls and directly adjacent to a large salt lake. On those shores were found around 600 terracotta figurines, all dated from the sixth to the fourth century B.C.E. They mainly represent women, or goddesses, capped with high kalathoi. Produced in local workshops, those figurines are very close in iconography to contemporary Greek products. Nevertheless, they reveal the fine, local “tour de mains” of Kitian coroplasts. The use of specific processes, combining moulding and modelling, reveals the strong attachment of local workshops to Cypriot coroplastic techniques, as well as their adaptability to local cults and divinities, in the context of a cosmopolitan Cypro-Phoenician city.

Oggetto del presente studio è il gruppo di terracotte figurate di epoca ellenistica e, solo in un caso, tardo-classica, appartenenti alla Collezione Archeologica “Francesco Messina”. Il materiale rappresenta un nucleo piuttosto omogeneo e il più cospicuo fra quelli individuabili nella raccolta. Le terracotte sono prive di dati di provenienza e/o acquisizione e per questo motivo la datazione dei singoli pezzi è basata solo su confronti e dati stilistici, indicati volta per volta nelle schede tecniche dei materiali. I pezzi presi in esame sono 23 (principalmente figure femminili, un esiguo nucleo di figure maschili e alcune figure riferibili all'universo dionisiaco). Ad un’introduzione generale sul valore e le funzioni della coroplastica segue il catalogo dei fittili, presentati per gruppi tipologici: alle schede dei materiali di ogni gruppo si è fatta precedere una breve introduzione che consenta di inquadrare in maniera generale la singola tipologia. This paper represents the last step of the study of a group of Hellenistic and, in one case, late classical terracottas from the Francesco Messina’s Archaeological Collection. The terracottas represents a rather homogeneous group and the most conspicuous among the ones that form the collection. The terracottas lack of any kind of information about their origins and this is why the dating and interpretation of every piece is based exclusively on the comparison with other materials and on stylistic analysis (of which the author provides explanation and justification in the technical records). The group is formed by 23 terracottas (mainly female figures of humans and deities, a small number of male figures and some figures related to Dionysiac universe). After the general introduction about the role and functions of coroplastic production follows the catalogue of terracottas which are presented by typological order. The records are preceded by a small introduction that aims to better contextualize all the types of terracottas here presented.

The following is a compilation of publications on coroplastic topics for 2019. As this is taken from Dyabola, all reference Greek or Roman terracottas. Bibliography on coroplastic topics that focus on other areas of the ancient world are very much appreciated and can be sent to uhlenbrj@hawkmail.newpaltz.edu.

This work-in-progress focuses on the terracottas from the sanctuary of Artemis Limnatis on Μount Ithome in ancient Messene. The assemblage includes mostly Artemis figurines of a type similar to the iconography of Artemis Bendis in Attica, but also of Hekate and Enodia in Thessaly. Apart from the terracotta figurines from the sanctuary, terracottas from the other sanctuaries in the city, such as the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, also are briefly discussed.

Far from being two distinct and distant spheres, play and ritual had blurred boundaries in antiquity, when they may have sometimes overlapped. In light of recent attention to toys in the ancient Mediterranean, this article reconsiders a remarkable yet fragmentary nude standing female figure with articulated arms from the excavations by the German Archaeological Institute in the so-called Magon Quarter at Carthage. It provides a detailed analysis of this terracotta figurine and its find-context, but it also assesses various hypotheses on its original use by considering similar artefacts in ancient and contemporary societies. Through this investigation, dolls emerge as objects whose use was not merely limited to children and play, but it could have been extended to adults and ritual, especially in those cases when a possible divine iconography was portrayed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Figurines of nude females are known from most periods of Pharaonic Egyptian history and occur in a variety of contexts. Female figurines were fashioned from clay, faience, ivory, stone, and wood. A generic Egyptian term for “female figurine” is rpyt; terms specifically for clay figurines include sjn (n Ast), rpyt nt sjnt, and rpyt Ast. Formerly interpreted largely as “concubine” figures, female figurines are now regarded as components of magico-medical rites to protect and heal.

This paper offers a scenario on the Phoenician imaginary through the analysis of the local coroplastic production between the Iron Age and the Persian period. The aim is to give an order to the many coroplastic subjects according to a macro-chronological subdivision based on archaeological contexts and manufacturing techniques. Two distinguished phases are thus identified, the Phoenician I and Phoenician II productions. More general issues are also addressed regarding the possible use of these figurines in various contexts, their geographical distribution, and a semantic analysis of the represented subjects. The paper also seeks to trace the dynamics of continuity and discontinuity in the local coroplastic art through the identification of two non-local productions, i.e. the Cypro-Phoenician and Graeco-Phoenician productions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consumption and adaptation of Greek material culture by non-Greek peoples in ancient western Sicily, and the wider Mediterranean, has been an ongoing point of contention in scholarship: do Greek objects influence the peoples that use them, and by their movement and trade are these objects and their figured surfaces active agents of Hellenization? Acknowledging that framing future discussion through postcolonialism only perpetuates the anachronistic colonialist model, this dissertation applies the materialist theory of transculturality to an understudied class of terracotta objects distributed and adapted through Ancient Sicily: louteria, arulae, and other ritual furniture impressed with cylinder-roll matrices. This announcement summarizes the results of an interdisciplinary methodology combining technical and iconographic analyses of the stamp series, reconstruction of the then-stamped terracottas’ contexts, and spatial and statistical modelling of their distribution patterns. This holistic approach to material study reveals a highly complex network of exchange, adaptation, and local production in sixth and fifth century Sicily far more dynamic than the simple binary of colonizer and colonized.

The collective imagery of the Phoenicians is well known both within and outside of the academic world in large part because of the representations of daily life in their coroplastic art. Yet, there still is no comprehensive study of this genre of their material culture. In this brief communication, a new research project is presented that concerns a regional survey of Iron Age clay figurines from Phoenician sites in the eastern Mediterranean. The sites included in this research range beyond the borders traditionally ascribed to the Phoenicians, and cover the entire Syrian, Lebanese, and Israeli coasts. This research aims to illustrate the regional distribution of these figurines, including their production centers, as well as their types, uses, chronologies, and the meanings of this class of artefacts.

From the Bronze Age to Greco-Roman antiquity, Tarsus was an important urban center because of its proximity to the famous Cilician Gates that connected central Anatolia to the Mediterranean coast and northern Syria, as well its maritime connections to the eastern Mediterranean through its harbor. The mound of Gözlükule, the oldest and continuously inhabited part of the ancient city, informs modern scholarship about the material and visual culture of Roman Tarsus, as well as the earlier periods of habitation. The mound was explored in the middle of the 19th century, excavated in the mid-20th, and for the last 10 years was the focus of renewed excavations by the Boğazici University. During the course of all these investigations a number of deposits of Roman terracotta figurines was brought to light. This rich coroplastic material shows the evolution of a coroplastic typology according to changes in the occupation of this city from the early Imperial to the late Imperial eras. It also reveals new aspects of coroplastic production and use in the city of Tarsus, demonstrating the importance of these figurines for provincial Roman religion, especially in the transitional period of the late Roman Empire2.

Copyright of Adalya is the property of Koc University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The study intends to support the archaeological questions about the technological choices related to the manufacturing of an important class of archaic artefacts—the fictile roof revetments of the temples—in the Greek colonies of Sicily, unveiling the possible relations among raw materials, decorative and firing techniques and functionality of the architectural terracottas. By applying a multidisciplinary and a multimethodological archaeometric approach, the aforementioned questions have been addressed, explaining the technological expedients employed by the coroplasts in the manufacturing of the roof revetments, and suggesting interesting mobility schemes of both raw materials and ‘techne’ (know‐how) throughout the island. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Thiasos Monografie is the property of Edizioni Quasar di Severino Tognon s.r.l. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the 6th and 5th centuries B.C., Gela (Italy, Sicily) was one of the most important production centres of architectural terracottas in the Mediterranean basin. Nevertheless, few archaeometric data are actually available in scientific literature on this interesting artifacts class. Here we report an archaeometric characterization of Geloan coroplastic materials. In particular, an investigation on finest architectural terracottas found in dumps archaeological contexts in Gela has been carried out with the aim at identifying the distinctive features of the production and the manufacturing techniques. The group of samples includes various remarkable architectural elements: painted sima and geison fragments, and acroteria specimens. Information about provenance, fabric features, technology and manufacturing techniques have been obtained by performing petrographic (OM), mineralogical (XRD) and chemical analyses (XRF). Moreover, as most of the identified petrographic fabrics have revealed the presence of volcanic temper, EDS chemical analysis have been performed on clinopiroxenes, being the latter ones an effective tool for provenance attributions. Finally, an analytical characterization of the painted polychrome decoration has been carried out by using Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy-Dispersive Spectrometry (SEM-EDS) and micro Raman spectroscopy. The obtained results allow us to define, for the first time, the technological features of the Geolan architectural terracottas production, opening new perspectives in the study of the coroplastic art in archaic Sicily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cave underneath the theatre of Miletus in western Turkey contains a spring and can be street identified as an ancient sanctuary. It underwent two main building phases, both of which appear to be linked to building phases of the theatre, one Hellenistic and the other Roman. The cave contained terracotta figures and limbs that might have been votive offerings. 44 late antique oil lamps may also have been votives; they were buried inside the spring when the spring was filled in at the turn of the fifth century A.D. or soon thereafter. The infill also contained marble heads from the stage building of the theatre that had previously been mutilated, probably by Christians and possibly in order to mar their beauty. The infill hid the spring as well as burying the lamps and marbles. This appears to have had the twofold function of closing the sanctuary - probably in response to the anti-pagan laws of the Theodosian emperors - and of protecting the sacred spring, the votive offerings, as well as the marble heads from further abuse and destruction. In addition, findings from around the cave also shed light on the history of the seaward defences that may date back to Archaic times and, in the Byzantine period, were renovated to include a sophisticated gate with zwinger [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zephyrus is the property of Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Vulcan: Journal of the Social History of Military Technology is the property of Brill Academic Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archaeologischer Anzeiger is the property of Deutsches Archaologisches Institut and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)